limiter

People can't always be trusted to behave properly on computers that aren't theirs (or, for that matter, on computers that are theirs). Whether you're trying to limit the online shenanigans of your employees or the general public, Public Fox can help. This clever Firefox add-on limits the browser's ability to download files and perform other functions that may pose a risk to security or productivity. We can think of many places where this could be useful, from workplaces to libraries to teenagers' bedrooms.

Public Fox installs easily and is surprisingly simple to configure. The Options menu … Read more

YouTube is rewarding users who do what it asks of them.

The company announced in a blog post yesterday that it has lifted the 15-minute limit on video uploads for "selected users" who have "a history of complying with the YouTube Community Guidelines and our copyright rules." It seems that those who have violated its terms in the past are still limited to 15 minutes.

YouTube didn't explicitly say for sure that well-behaved users will have an unlimited amount of time for their uploads, but it did say that if users upload "original content, … Read more

We've all been there. You're enjoying a nice drive with your favorite tune pumping on the stereo, when you look down and realize that you're going 90 mph in a 65 mph zone. Sometimes the music carries you away like that. A new app by OVK called Slow Down for iOS devices aims to use your music in the opposite way to help keep your speed in check.

After installing, users can select the music playlist to which they want to listen from within the app. After manually choosing the speed limit for the road being driven, … Read more

Jack White (White Stripes, Raconteurs, Dead Weather) has a cool video demonstrating his "triple-decker," three-records-in-one 12-inch single, "Blue Blood Blues." You have to watch the video to see exactly how the technology works, but let's just say for now it's a 7 inch 45 rpm single glued to one side of a 12-inch single; but the 12-inch can be pried open to retrieve another 45! It's a limited to 300 edition so I'm sure it'll sell out quickly. The Triple-Decker Record is a Jack White invention; and it's assembled by … Read more

SurplusMeter--formerly known as NetTracker--keeps a close eye on your bandwidth use. This utility lets you set a bandwidth limit, a start day of the month, and a connection type (such as PPP Modem or Network Card).

SurplusMeter also calculates a daily allowance and reconfigures that depending on how much you've actually used for the month. The interface is simple and uncluttered, but it also lacks the alarms and graphs found in similar Windows apps. Progress bars help track the days left in the month, the download megabyte count, and the total downloaded and uploaded, and you can easily make … Read more

Flipn' Monsters is a clever, comical take on traditional card-matching games like Memory, and it's easy enough for kids but with an arcade mode that's addictive even for older gamers.

The object of the game's classic mode is simple: You flip cards over one at a time with a single tap, matching identical pairs on a three-by-six grid. A timer clocks your speed and records your best time. The cards feature nine different colorful monsters, which are distinct enough to be memorable but similar enough to provide a challenge. The game's arcade mode is much more … Read more

You're going back to school and want to label your digital content with a little bit of fashion? Western Digital has something for you.

The company unveiled on Thursday the new 500GB My Passport Essential limited-edition portable hard drive. It's much like any other My Passport Essential hard drives with one big difference: the new drives come with several unique cover designs that supposedly fit a variety of personal styles.

According to Western Digital, these designs were made by students at California State University, Long Beach's Industrial Design program. The drives are available in five patterns: Boom … Read more

Apple has raised the maximum size of app downloads over a 3G connection to 20MB, in what developer site Appadvice says is preparation for the iPad launch.

In the past, iPhone app downloads were limited to less than 10MB over a 3G connection. If you wanted to download larger apps, you had to use Wi-Fi. This limitation may have been placed on the iPhone at the request of wireless carriers in an effort to preserve bandwidth.

iPad apps will be larger downloads, mainly because they will have to support higher-resolution graphics. New apps such as the iLife suite for the … Read more

For about the 4,000th time in the last five years, I tried to sign up for a new Web service, but it wouldn't accept my proposed password. Apparently, the site operators decided that passwords should contain only letters and numbers. Aarrrrgh! This isn't the first time I've seen this idiocy, and it won't be the last. But it should be.

Guidelines on how to construct a strong password almost uniformly recommend using a mixture of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and symbols. Tools for generating passwords (for example, strongpasswordgenerator.com) encourage the use of … Read more